Good morning, we made it to Friday. I am constantly surprised by the ability of things to just get weirder and more chaotic. Just when I think it can’t get any worse, it does. I need a weekend, don’t know about you.
I did two long-ass drives this week for work – one down-and-back to New York City and another down-and-back to Rochester (this was just yesterday). My brain I think resembles cottage cheese at this point, and even though I have managed to sleep some I am still just bone tired.
Getting old isn’t for the faint of heart, I tell you.
So, sadly, this morning I have nothing fun or even remotely interesting to say. I hope you can give me a little grace on that. I’ve been staring at this mostly blank space for about ten minutes now, flipping between this page and about five other tabs that I’ve got open while scrolling for inspiration.
But I got nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Bupkis. Not to worry. It’s nothing a really long run won’t cure, and since I’ve got two of them on my dance card this weekend, I’ll be back to my usual snappy self on Monday, I’m sure.
If you have been feeling sort of like “let’s get this party started already!” when it comes to fall, you’re not alone. I made peace with the changing of the seasons, but it’s hard for me to go full autumn – drinking hot coffee, eating apples, picking pumpkins, wearing sweaters etc. – when the temperature consistently hovers around 80 degrees.
To be clear, I am not complaining, per se. I like unseasonably warm weather as much as anyone, conceptually speaking, though I find it somewhat unsettling to still be wearing shorts in mid-September.
Also, I looked it up, and this spate of non-fall temperatures appears to qualify as Indian Summer, which traditionally refers to a period of unusually mild weather that follows the first real frost or freeze the season. That generally occurs in October or November, but the Albany area saw frost on Sept. 7 and 8, so we’re well within the window.
(Apparently I’m not supposed to use the term “Indian Summer” anymore, as it’s potentially derogatory and/or racist. If I have offended anyone, I am sorry).
Tomorrow, we’re going to get a taste of fall, as the temperature is predicted to top out “only” in the high 60s. While this will no doubt feel chilly compared to what we’ve become used to, I’m sure by the time January and February roll around we will be begging for this sort of weather. Skies will be mainly sunny tomorrow and partly cloudy on Sunday, which will be a little warmer, with highs int he low 70s.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump said that regulators should consider revoking the licenses of broadcasters that air negative coverage or commentary of him, indicating that his assault on critics’ language is motivated at least in part by personal animus.
A mock-nervous Jon Stewart took to “The Daily Show” desk last night for a appearance to address ABC’s decision to kill Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely over his malicious remarks about conservative icon Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Stephen Colbert, Stewart and David Letterman all warned that the country was sliding toward an autocracy after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show following pressure from the Trump administration.
Kimmel’s future at ABC was up in the air even before his incendiary TV comments, multiple sources told Page Six. The multi-millionaire late night host had just months left on his deal with Disney, and was set to start negotiations with bigwigs later this year.
Kimmel reportedly said he was unwilling to apologize for his remarks that blamed MAGA supporters for killing Kirk — and was going to double down on attacking Trump’s backers before he was yanked from the air.
Trump slammed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Somalia yesterday, a day after a resolution to formally reprimand the Minnesota Democrat and remove her from committee assignments failed in the House.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hand-picked vaccine advisory committee yesterday recommended that the CDC adopt new restrictions on a combination shot that protects against chickenpox as well as measles, mumps and rubella.
The panel advised that the vaccine known as MMRV not be given before age 4 and that children in this age group instead get separate vaccines — one against MMR and another for varicella, or chickenpox. The vote was 8-3, with one member abstaining.
The panel decided to delay the votes on Hep B vaccine guidance until today, when they will also vote on COVID-19 vaccine guidance.
As the weather cools and fall approaches, COVID-19 cases are still spiking in much of the US. The country has yet to emerge from a late summer COVID wave driven by the highly contagious new “Stratus” variant, which is sickening Americans from coast to coast.
The Senate is expected to vote on a pair of stopgap spending packages today as lawmakers seek a way to avert a government shutdown ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline.
A group of Senate Democrats are calling on the United States government to recognize a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside a secure state of Israel.
The non-binding resolution was introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the first of its kind in the Senate, as the pressure rises on Israel over its nearly two-year military siege against Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Before his assassination, Charlie Kirk told Turning Point USA executives that he had a plan for the organization’s future in the event of his death. This week, it was put into action: Erika Kirk was elected the organization’s new chief executive and board chair.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a Federal Register notice announcing that 28 more questions were added to the naturalization test.
New York’s top elected officials – including Gov. Kathy Hochul – are being sued over a law tucked into this year’s state budget to soften what’s required of nonpublic schools, including yeshivas, to meet state education standards.
New York’s utility regulator authorized a plan from National Grid to supply natural gas to New York City that relies on the construction of a controversial pipeline yet to be approved by the state.
Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the New York State Democratic Party, said that he would not support Zohran Mamdani, his party’s nominee for mayor of New York City, citing fundamental disagreements over Israel and democratic socialism.
Jacobs bucked Hochul in a pointed statement, saying he had unbridgeable differences with the Democratic nominee, while acknowledging that fear-mongering over the socialist’s ascendance was “wrong and a gross over-reaction.”
“Mr. Mamdani and I are in agreement that America’s greatest problem is the continued growth of income disparity in our nation,” Jacobs said in the statement. “On how to address it — we fundamentally disagree.”
Capping off a week of significant endorsements, Mamdani will rally with state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins this afternoon.
Hochul’s nascent partnership with democratic socialist Mamdani — sealed this week with her endorsement of the upstart mayoral candidate — is already under significant strain.
Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani seems to have helped Rep. Elise Stefanik. The Republican congresswoman, who is preparing to announce her own gubernatorial bid, has received millions in pledges since Sunday, according to insiders.
Friends and advisors to Mamdani say privately that they fear he is behind in preparing for what’s ahead if he wins November’s election, as reliable public polls show he is in strong position to do. Former President Obama recently spoke with the candidate.
Some real estate executives are working feverishly to stop Mamdani from being elected mayor, but the head of the Real Estate Board of New York suggested that he’s resigned to the democratic socialist’s likely victory.
Authorities have arrested a Texas man for allegedly making phone and written threats to Mamdani, warning the self-described democratic socialist to “return to Uganda” before someone shoots him in the head, the Queens district attorney said.
The man, Jeremy Fistel, 44, pleaded not guilty in a Queens criminal court to a 22-count indictment that includes charges of making a terroristic threat and aggravated harassment.
Thousands of charter school leaders, students, parents and staff marched across the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday amid a highly contentious mayoral election in which frontrunner Mamdani has leveled criticism at the charter movement.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo received a union endorsement for his New York City mayoral campaign at a gathering in Great Kills with the Local 3 Staten Island Electrical Club of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Controversial Hollywood director Woody Allen, 89, heaped praise on Cuomo in backing the ex-governor for New York City mayor — saying he’d do a “much better job” than Mamdani.
Mayor Eric Adams said that he plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York next week, and slammed Mamdani’s campaign promise to arrest him.
Adams jumped into the controversial issue of transgender identity and restrooms, saying he is going to review – and potentially seek to change – a NYC school policy that allows transgender students to use their preferred bathrooms.
“We are going to always respect how one identifies themselves,” Adams said, adding: “I do not believe a safe environment is allowing boys and girls to use the same facility at the same time.”
Of the four candidates vying to govern New York City, only Adams, the current mayor, is able to run on his record of having done just that. And with less than seven weeks to go till Election Day, a new trove of information on that record is now public.
As with every edition of the Mayor’s Management Report, this one, covering the fiscal year that ended in June, is a decidedly mixed bag, offering the mayor much to crow about and plenty of fodder for his critics.
In a dramatic reversal, the Adams administration moved yesterday to kill a controversial plan to build a housing complex in the Bronx for former inmates with serious health issues that has sparked deep controversy.
As rumors swirled whether Adams’ would end his candidacy in recent weeks, his election lawyer Vito Pitta suggested to those working in the campaign there was no choice but to follow the mayor’s often-repeated mantra: stay focused and grind.
A 16-year-old student was arrested with a gun found in his backpack just two hours after he threatened on social media to shoot up his Queens high school, Adams announced.
City Comptroller Brad Lander and 10 other local elected officials were arrested yesterday after attempting to inspect the reportedly inhumane conditions migrants are being detained in at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan.
The elected officials, mainly members of the state Senate and Assembly, refused to leave the premises after being refused entry into ICE holding rooms for detained immigrants on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza. All 11 were released shortly after their arrest.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has served misconduct charges against two officers who fatally shot 19-year-old Win Rozario during a mental health crisis at his Queens home in March, a police spokesperson said.
Such charges usually lead to a departmental trial that can result in an officer’s firing, but more often results in lost vacation time.
City councilmembers heard testimony from city health officials for the first time since a deadly Legionnaires’ outbreak in Harlem this summer killed seven people and sickened 114.
More than 100 residents from a pair of Queens and Brooklyn waterfront neighborhoods slammed a city-contracted asphalt recycling plant near their homes at a tense meeting over its smelly, “burning rubber”-like emissions they fear are making them sick.
Jimmy Fallon abruptly canceled his appearance at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival in New York City, shortly after “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was suspended over its host’s comments about the conservative response to the Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Actress Amanda Seyfried is not backing down from her thoughts about Kirk being “hateful” amid a growing backlash that has bubbled up against people who condemned his polarizing views in the wake of his killing last week.
Some residents of the Greene County village of Athens are questioning why state grant money aimed at revitalizing small communities can go to private businesses.
The City of Albany agreed to pay $11,000 in a settlement with a man who alleged city police subjected him to an invasive and unconstitutional cavity search on Philip Street in 2017.
Troy Sanitation Supervisor Thomas R. Abbott Jr., who was arrested in June for allegedly stealing a purse at a local grocery store, is back from his suspension. He’s running for a Rensselaer County Legislature seat this fall.
City of Schenectady leaders will hold a special meeting on Sept. 29 to review membership applications for a task force that will address the city’s dire housing needs. Four days later, they’ll be getting down to brass tacks.
A 26-year-old postal worker pleaded guilty to money order fraud this week, admitting he issued $76,976 worth of money orders to himself without paying for them, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Saratoga Springs’ plans to sell its North Broadway property fell through this week after a Brooklyn developer said he couldn’t get his proposal for the site through the city’s Design Review Board.
When a student comes to the nurse’s office with a sore throat or a painful ear, nurses can now do more than just call the parents: with a parent’s permission, they can now can get an immediate telehealth appointment through Albany Medical Center.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
